Transfer of Life Insurance Ownership

by GO
(CA, USA)

My mother has had an life insurance policy which she, and her deceased husband, purchased over 10-years ago. She was listed as the insured, and owner, but recently shared with me that she wanted to change the ownership to me, which I blindly changed the policy ownership into my name without thinking about the potential consequences. Recently, when doing some research, and looking into qualifying her for SSI (CA), I found out that this could disqualify her from SSI for 36-months since it appears as this might fall under a transfer of resources. Is this true? If true, what can we do about it? Can we just transfer ownership back to her name? By the way, to my knowledge this policy does not have any cash value?

I had also, and recently discussed this with someone who long ago worked in SSI, and she mentioned that SSI will scrutinized the total of amount of her 25K policy. Is this true? If, the amount is an issue, what is an acceptable amount? Currently, my mother does not receive Medicaid, but will need it soon, and is in dire need of financial SSI to help her with bills.